


A Jack of Hearts

by TheLoneSurvivor



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Kink Meme, Love, Memories, Pregnancy, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 21:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4452563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLoneSurvivor/pseuds/TheLoneSurvivor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the crucible is fired and all the Reapers are destroyed, Jack is still searching for her lover. When he's found, she doesn't believe it, until she sees his tattoo...</p>
<p>Written for the Mass Effect kink meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Jack of Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> You can find the prompt over here: http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/9115.html?thread=43343515#t43343515&sref=

Jack laid on one of the cots, staring up at the fabric of the tent above her. She needed sleep, yet she couldn't find it. Not until she found _him_ at least... Shepard had been missing for three days since the crucible had gone down in flames, and for three days Jack had gotten everyone searching for him restlessly. And now, here she was. On the verge of tears and suffering from the gaping hole in her heart while everyone picks the ruins of the London for her lover. But she _needed_ to find him. It was a must. She had to know if he was alive, or dead; most preferably the former.

Jack groaned and cursed for not being able to sleep and sat up as she opened her omni-tool. She scrolled through the pages that showed themselves and then found what she wanted to see once more. It was a picture of her and John. It had been taken during the party, with the lights of the Citadel beaming like tiny stars in the background. Both of them smiled and Jack had rested her head on John's shoulder. A smile wanted to make it across her face, but longing overcame it and she frowned instead.

It was nice to look at the picture though, no matter how much it hurt. She didn't know why that was. It seemed so cliché too.. that looking at memories both hurt and made her happy. It was an unusual mix, and it didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the picture. She didn't know how long she stared at it, letting the memories of that wild night refill her mind with bliss. She laughed once to herself when she remembered what Tali had been up to. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop from liking the quarian girl. She had drunken enough to almost not be able to stand, and she was stumbling around the apartment, occasionally falling over and cursing before getting up with some assistance.

The tent rustled over to her right, and Jack spun her head to see who had entered while she deactivated her omni-tool. And it was none other than Tali who had walked into the tent. She approached cautiously and wrung her hands, obviously really nervous. Jack wanted to demand what she was doing there, and yell, but instead, it came out as a gentle. “What is it?”

Tali wrung her hands even harder, and then finally took in a deep breath before letting them fall to her sides. “We...” she began, slowly. “We found John.”

Jack's eyes bolted open, any sleep she might have had instantly gone. She leaped out of the cot she was on and stood only inches away from Tali's visor. “Take me to him. Wait... why is he not with you?”

Tali wrung her hands once more. “Well... you should see for yourself...”

Jack frowned. That was _never_ a good sign.

It was only a few minutes walk to where Shepard lay, his armour broken and battered, but his body surprisingly undamaged. She ran over to him and looked at his face. It looked like him. Exactly like him. But her heart refused. He _couldn't_ be dead. Not now. Not after all they had been through, and what he still needed to live for...

“This... This can't be him...” Jack spoke, her voice beginning to break up even as she spoke.

“But... it is. I'm... I'm sorry.” Tali said, laying a gentle hand gingerly on Jack's shoulder.

Jack couldn't even slap it away. Not even if she tried to. But she refused to believe it until she saw one thing to prove it was him. “There's only one thing I have to see to truly believe it's him...” she said, her voice wavering.

Tali was going to ask what it was, but decided against it.

Jack took the silence as a 'go ahead' and grabbed onto the neck of Shepard's armour. She unsealed the clasps on it from memory alone, and pulled the chestpiece off and threw it away. She gasped when she saw it. What she had needed to see to know he was truly him... and gone.

It was a tattoo. He had gotten it when they stopped by Omega after the suicide mission. It was of a common card used all over by humans, a Jack of Hearts. Blue, biotic energy radiated off the card, and in front of the card, on a small banner, the words 'Always Yours' could be seen. The common Jack, with his royal suit and moustache had been been replaced, and instead a small portrait of herself could be seen, drawn to perfection. She was standing in a battle-stance, blue biotic energy glowing on her arm, with a pistol in the other hand.

Jack's heart felt like it had been pierced with the sharpest blade in the galaxy and then twisted until a large hole was all that remained. She couldn't believe it. She knew that he had died before, but... she hadn't seen it. And she never wanted to as well. There was no stopping her, and the ocean of tears she had already been holding in by assuming the worst was released. She cried and sobbed for what seemed to be a lifetime, and Tali had gotten down to hug her. Jack was thankful that Tali was with her. Anyone else, and she would've gotten rid of the person for even attempting such a thing. But not her.

Finally, when she had run out of tears and she could speak once more, she released from Tali's embrace. “Thank you,”

Tali smiled sadly. “It's the least I could do.”

Jack wanted to smile, but couldn't. John was gone. No longer able to be with her, and most importantly... be the father he was supposed to be.

She never even got the chance to tell him.


End file.
